Game



Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,340

H. G. ANTHES GAME Filed Sept. 19, 1922 LEFT -FIELD Patented Aug. Y l,1925.

UNITED STATES HENRY Gr. ANTI-IES, 0F NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK.

GAME.

Application filed September T 0 LZZ whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, HENRY Gr. ANTHES, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Rochelle, in thecounty of VJestchester andState of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Games, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to games, and consists of a table gaine orgame-board intended to simulate some outdoor contest between teams Vofplayers, such as cricket, or the American national gaine of baseball,and to permit between opposing players contests involving skill, chanceand amusement.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a plan viewv of a gameapparatus einbodying the present invention, and Figure 2 is a section onthe line 2 2 of Figure 1.

rllhe present game apparatus comprises a game adapted to be tilted so asto cause loose pieces upon the board to move around within certainconfinement. TheV moving or rolling pieces, which are preferably balls,and usually ordinary marbles so as not to be too perfect in rollingaction, are in two sets representing two opposing teams of players. Theplayers or balls of one team are distributed around the field with meansfor confining each within certain limits, preferably by a number ofshallow recesses within which the respective pieces roll. rlhrough thisfield of moving players is supposedto pass a player or runner of theother team, which is set into a shallow path or circuit and caused totraverse the path from end to end, the task being to have the player orrunner completely traverse the path: without being contacted by opposingplayers, this requiring skill because of the arrangement of the path ata number of points in such close proximity to the bounds or recesses ofthe opposing players that there is continual likelihood of contact, suchcontact representing the putting out of the runner. y

The bottom board 3 or base of the apparatus should be stiff and rigid togive a substantially flat board and its upper surface may be smooth oron the other hand slightly rough t0 avoid too great regularity in therolling motions of the pieces. Around the periphery is a vertical stripl of card-board enclosing the lield and which may be decorated torepresent a fence. The two front,

19, 1922. Serial No. 589,230.

corners are shown provided with angle pieces 5 of card-board for thereception of the thumbs in manipulatingA the apparatus. In thelongitudinal axis, but forward of the center, is attached at theunderside of the board, a pivot or rocker 6 which may be a hemisphere ofrubber. In operation the rocker rests' upon any surface or table 7 whilethe person playing the game holds the board by the thumb pieces 5tipping and tilting it as desired to cause his marble or player totraverse the required path.

Un top of the base-board is shown a layer 8 of card-board, iirmlysecured in contact with the base, and cut.- away at a number of pointsto produce recesses and a path.

Although the principles might be used for other games, the game ofbaseball, as before stated, is illustrated in the present example ofthis invention. Each lof the contestants is provided with a set ofmarbles, the side which is out having nine. marbles each marked 9 on thedrawings and the side which is having its inning having an equal numberof marbles marked 10.

It will be convenient first to describe the path of travel lof each ofthe players or runners of the team having its'inning. A player or marble10 is shown just beyond the home-plate 11 in the shallow run-way orgroove 12 leading to the iirst base 13. The path turns at this pointextending along` the groove la to second base 15 and thence along groove16 to third base 17 and by groove 18 to home-plate 11. The boa-rd willbe tilted to cause the runner to pass around this path, and if he hassuccessfully done so without the player being putout by contact with anyopposing player, the runner will be rolled onwardly along run-way 19 tothe enclosure 20 reserved for players that have scored runs. Thisenclosure is produced by a wall 21 extending diagonally from the frontto the side peripheral walls. in Figure 1 the wall 21 is shown brokenaway in section to indicate a door-way 22 by which the marble passesfrom the run-way 19 int-o the enclosure 20. Another similar enclosure 23is arranged at the opposite side by means of a diagonal wall 24 withinwhich lie the marbles or players of the contestant who is having hisinnings. rl`he two walls, 2i and 24, may be ornamented to representgrandstands and the front wall i between them may be indicated as aback-stop- The pathv 12-18 of the runner passes The respective basemenare in recesses 29,v

in close proximity to the recesses of the opposing team at a number ofpoints marked 25 whichmay be considered as danger or contact points. Thesides of the path of the runner are quite low, being merely thethickness of the card-board 8, and the ball l0 can overhang at eitherside as will be understood from Figure 2. f Wherever the path comesquite close to the recesses to be described, the ball 10 is able tocontact with a ball 9 and this'is the contact which has to be guardedagainst in tilting the board to cause the runner to pass around thecircuit. The player representing the catcher is freely movable withinthe limitations of a recess 26 which approaches very closely to the pathofthe runner at a danger point 25. The pitcher is in an analogous recess27 with an extended danger point so that the runner is liable to be Vputout by the pitcher during substantially a quarter of the Ventiredistance. The recesses for the different players are shown of differentshapes and sizes and may of course be vari-- ously modified to increaseor decrease the difficulty of the game.` The Vshort-stop is shownlocated in a simple curved recess 28.

3() and Eil and the ielders in recesses 32, 33 and 34. The entire boardis thus divided up into two levels.v The higher level, the top side ofthe pasteboard-S, represents the field and mayV be colored green asrepresenting grass, while the various depressed portions, the recessesand the path, may be brown. y Y

p The game may be played by rules, and

one convenient system may be as follows:V

The opponents may have marbles of different colors, for example, red andblue. The side that shall have first inning may be decided by the tossof a coin. The side winning the toss, for example the reds, places allnine marbles in the enclosure 23` while the contestant playing the blueswill place the nine lblue marbles in the nine enclosures or recesses 26to 34: where Veach marble i will roll freely as the board is tilted. Ifany of the blue players should slip out of its enclosure during theinning the contestant will immediately replace it. The contestant havingthe redsl will removeV one marble from enclosure 23 and place it inrun-way 12V just beyond Yhome-plate, as shown in Figure l. From thispoint on the manipulationwill be by tilting, andthe 0b- )ect is for thered contestant to cause the redV marble to rolldown the run-way l2 tofirst base, thence along the continuation of the path to second andthird bases andfinally to the home-plate and along path 19 to theenclosure `While he is endeavoring to do this the nine blue marbles Varein constant motion giving a natural appearance of activity and thetilting motions produces a tendency to bring thered playerinto contactwith one or more of the blue players namely at one 0r more of the dangerpoints 25. Immediately upon the runner or red marble being contacted bya blue marble the blue contestant may lift the red marble from the boardas being out The game proceeds, the player having the inning making asmany complete runs as possible and the other extracting the playerswhich have been put out, until three players liavebeen put out,whereupon the side is declared outand the contestants change places.This will be repeated until each side has had nine innings as in ournational game. If desired, a third person may be engaged as urnpire tojudge whether a player has beenput out and effect the removal oftheplayer s0 put out.l `If a player making a rumshau leave the path orgroove, for example `the run-way l2, I prefer that he shoul'dbeallowedto manipulate the board to bring the runner again into the path l2 andcontinue his run, any contact by an opening player,

however vof course uttinflr `him out. It

might be made conditional that the runner must be rolled bach into placein the runway before the opposing `contestant "can touch it by hand,which would the the equivalent of putting the runner out. The ninemarbles of each contestantmightrbe numbered from l to 9 and thecontestant compelled to play them in order `so that` he would not beable to obtain undue advanrwtage by reason of differences in theirregular surfaces of his several marbles. It will thus be seen that Ihave described a table game or game board embodying the presentinvention and enabling a contest to be carried on of the naturereferred'to.` Many matters ofdesign, arrangement and detail may bevariously modified without departingfrom the principles involved and`therefore it isnot intended to limit the invention except in so far asspecified in the appended claims. i' A i, u

lhat is claimed is: i i i l. A game comprising a tiltable boardconstructed with a shallow runway for a overhang the edge ofthe runway,and a number of correspondingly shallow recesses for similar rollingmembers of the opposing team, each recess closely contiguous totherunway but separated by a low wall bounding the runway and recess,wherebyythe members may mutually contact by'` their overhang across suchwall, asthe `first member traverses such circuit. j y s 2. A game boardaccording to claiml `and wherein one or. more of the recesses areconstructed of substantial area in two dimensions so that the playertherein may roll freely in any direction.

3. A baseball game board according to claim 1 and wherein the runwayextends 5 about the diamond from base to base, with recesses for thebasemen and other recesses for the flelders all substantially tangent tothe runway but separated by such lowwall.

4. A game according to claim 1 and wherein the runway and recesses are'formed 10 by cut away portions in a card or sheet mounted upon a rigidbase.

In testimony whereof, I have afIiXed my signature hereto.

. HENRY G. ANT'HES.

